INTRODUCTIONIn Theosophy the Seven Rays are equal to the seven primordial forces in nature. They combine to bring everything into existence. The Rays are present in everything in the Universe, but in different proportions. A balance of all of the Rays is necessary for personal well-being. Peace in the World is achieved when there is balance in all of the Rays among the Nations on Earth. Too much or too little of one Ray in anything cause disharmony as each Ray is the carrier of certain characteristics.

As the white light of the Sun divides itself into seven primary colors, so too does the Light of God express itself in seven qualities. In the ancient Esoteric Philosophy, these divisions of divine light are referred to as “The Seven Rays”, and , according to esoteric literature, every human soul is founded upon one of them.

Through the millennia, the characteristics of the Seven Rays in the Temples of the Ancients have been found (through trial, study and error) generally to be:

However, as we will see below, there are many, many more items that can be attributed to the Seven Rays. The Seven Rays effect all levels of human and material existence, including the various aspects of one’s personality (lower-self) as well as one’s soul (higher-self) in differently.

HISTORICALLY

One of the greatest mysteries in esoteric Theosophy has to do with the “The Seven Rays” of light. For Millennia Priest in Ancient Temples have guarded the knowledge of “The Seven Rays” closely and mostly kept it secret and to themselves.

The Seven Rays is an occult concept that has appeared in several religions and esoteric philosophies, since at least the 6th century BCE, of the Aryan peoples in both Western culture and in India. Also they are known as gods or angels from different planets or can be called fallen angels.In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus takes the bull-form known as Taurus in order to win Europa. Taurus is also associated with Aphrodite and other goddesses, as well as Pan and Dionysus. It is said that the face of Taurus "gleams with seven rays of fire."

In Hindu mythology, the Sun (i.e., Solar Logos) emanated seven rays. Also, In Hindu scripture the Vishnu Purana, a post-Vedic scripture, describes how Vishnu "enters into the seven solar rays which dilate into seven suns." These are the "seven principal solar rays," the source of heat even to the planet Jupiter, and the "seven suns into which the seven solar rays dilate at the consummation of all things..."

In the Seven Rays of the Chaldaean Mithra and the Seven Days of Genesis, from the Sun came fire and spirit." This was the astronomical religion of the Chaldeans, Jews, Persians, Syrians, Phoenicians and Egyptians."

In the Gnosticism of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, from 6th century BCE in the Seven Rays are found in a variety of elements of symbolism in ancient religions. The Chaldean Oracles have survived as fragmentary texts from the 2nd century AD, and may have been compilations from several sources, combining neo-Platonic elements with others that were Persian or Babylonian in origin. Later Neo-Platonists rated them highly.

In early Christian iconography, the dove of the Holy Ghost is often shown with an emanation of seven rays, as is the image of the Madonna. In a prominent element of the complex iconographic work, the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit descends to her on seven rays of light from the upper window to the left, with the dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit following the same path.

It was in The Secret Doctrine of Н. P. Blavatsky that the modern world was first presented with the phrase “The Seven Rays.” It went along with a statement that all things and beings in the world—all forms of mind and matter—arose from combinations of seven fundamental impulses. It was maintained that the substance or basis of the whole world—objective and subjective—is “spiritual,” which means, to practical and realistic persons, “something beyond thought.”

In Theosophy, Blavatsky wrote in the first book of The Secret Doctrine that an “analogy between the Aryan or Brahmanical and the Egyptian esotericism" and that the "seven rays of the Chaldean Heptakis or Iao, on the Gnostic stones" represent the seven large stars of the Egyptian "Great Bear" constellation, the seven elemental powers as the Hindu "seven Rishis." She stated that the seven rays of the Vedic sun deity, Vishnu, represent the same concept as the "astral fluid or “Light' of the Kabalists," and that the seven emanations of the lower seven Sephiroth are the "primeval seven rays," and "will be found and recognized in every religion."

Blavatsky used the Seven Stanzas from THE SECRET BOOK OF DZYAN as the model for her Opus work “The Secret Doctrine”. If read carefully the Stanzas primarily address “Light” and the number “Seven”. H. P. Blavatsky quotes a "verse from the esoteric volumes" as follows:“Space and Time are one. Space and Time are nameless, for they are the incognizable THAT, which can be sensed only through its seven rays—which are the Seven Creations, the Seven Worlds, the Seven Laws,…”

In her writings Mme. Blavatsky identifies the "first seven rays" with the primeval celestial beings variously called Primordial Seven, Dhyāni-Buddhas, Ah-hi or Logoi.

According to Alice A. Bailey (1880-1949), a Theosophical leader and writer, the Seven Rays that reach us on Earth locally originate within the "Solar Logos," (the consciousness of the "Divine Being" of the Sun). The Seven Rays are focused to the Solar Logos, through: 1.) Sirius, the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper in the Great Bear and, 2.) The Seven Major stars of the Pleiades form the "Galactic Logos," (the consciousness of the "Divine Being" of the Milky Way Galaxy),and have their ultimate origin within the mind of God.

The Theory of the Seven Rays

In 1899, Nikola Tesla said:

“Everything is light. In one its ray is the fate of nations, each nation has its own ray in what great light source we see as the sun. And remember: no one who was there did not die. They transformed into the light, and as such exist still….”

The theory of the Seven Rays is best demonstrated when used in conjunction with “Esoteric Astrology”.

Esoteric Astrology has to do with the development of one’s soul or spirit, the higher Triad of the Monad of the Seven Principles which compose the Constitution of Man (Atma-Buddi-Manas). In Esoteric Astrology, the Seven Rays are considered to be split into three groups: the first two rays represent Will and Wisdom, respectively, and the remaining five Rays together form the group that represents Activity. Also, each Ray represents three signs of the Zodiac.

“Exoteric Astrology” (also known as Regular or Personal Astrology) has to do mainly with the development of the personality of a human in the Lower Quarterly of the Seven Principles of man (Kama/desire, Prana/life of organs, Linga-Sarira/astral body, and lastly the Sthula-Sarira/physical body).

In both forms of Astrology the Astrologist are making conclusions based on the light available from the Universe from the moving Heavenly bodies which is present on Earth at the time period in which they measure, which is normally birth. This is true in both Esoteric and Esoteric Astrology.In Astrology the light from the Heavens that is present on Earth imprints itself on everything that exist, including one’s body and soul, at the moment of birth. This happens, metaphorically, in the same manner that a photographic plate is imprinted by the reflected light from objects near it when the camera lens is opened. Over one’s lifetime the qualities so imprinted on one’s personality and soul at the moment of birth, but may be change as the positions of the Heavenly light givers (Sun, planets, stars, etc.) change.

The Earth wobbles slightly on its axis which leads to an apparent change in the position of the stars by an Earthly observer. One complete rotation of the Earth’s Axis occurs over a cycle of 26,000 years. This phenomenon is known as “Precession” as the stars “precess” one another in Declination, their relative position in the sky.

The Precession is arbitrarily then divided into twelve sections or “Houses”, each represented by a different sign in the Zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces). Every two hours a new Zodiac sign rises above the horizon in the East so that it cast a different light upon the Earth Earth as it travels across the Elliptic (the path of the Son across the sky). This means that the time in which the Earth’s Axis is in a particular “House” of the Zodiac (i.e. Pisces, Aquarius, etc.) will last approximately 2,167 years.

Additionally, there are random events visible in the Heavens from Earth such as comets, shooting stars, Super Nova’s , eclipses, and others , that also must be added to the formula when performing Astrology.

Initially, one must ask the question “Why use Seven Rays of light and, why is the number 7 is magical?” Although the mystery of “The Seven Rays” appears quite complicated, the concept is actually quite simple as shown in the following paragraph.

Any simple prism (i.e. rainbow, crystal, broken glass, etc.) that separates the white light of the Sun into a group of Seven Rays of different colors is know as a “spectrum”. When light passes into the prism it slows down and bends. These seven colors always appear in the same order in the Spectrum. The colors of the Spectrum are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. (Interestingly, you can make up a name using the first letter of each color of the spectrum to form a person's name: “ROY G BIV” ).

Each of the Seven Rays is believed to be associated with a different kind of occult energy, personality type, planet, constellation, chakra, principle, color, etc. All the Seven Rays are present in everyone (and everything), but one of them in each person is dominate, however slightly. Those findings made over the ages can be used to calculate certain tendencies or properties of a person or thing and have even been used by some to predict the future.

The Seven Rays is a concept related to the Septenary Principle of manifestation of the Universe. In The Secret Doctrine, the Seven Rays refer to the Seven Primordial beings that appear on the highest plane of manifestation, in whom are the seeds for everything in the Universe. They permeate every plane of the cosmos, including the Solar System, the planets and sentient beings. Later authors developed the subject further, assigning general characteristics to each Ray, and applying them to Adepts, religions, human temperament, human activities, colors, crystals, etc.

As a result of thousands of years of observation and testing, together with studying the position of the Sun, Moon, Stars, Constellations and other Heavenly bodies at the time of the creation or birth of anything, certain conclusions about the characteristics and destiny of that thing can be made. It should then be apparent how Astrology and Alchemy trace their origins to the theory of “The Seven Rays”.

A word of caution must be stated here. There are numerous hustlers and frauds that claim that they can reveal and/or predict the nature, characteristics, destiny and future of a person or thing by studying the effect of the Seven Rays on him, her or it. While that can be done somewhat effectively by well-trained experts in that practice, one must be cautious of the many self-proclaimed Gurus and Mystics that are far too common in this field.

Many will say that the colors of the Seven Rays are: white, blue, green, orange, yellow, red, and purple. The problem with that is that the color of the Seven Rays must match the colors of the Spectrum of: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. If the colors of the Rays of a supposed Guru, Prophet or Seer do not match the colors of the Spectrum, be very skeptical of that person. Also, if a person can tell you about the characteristics of the Rays, but cannot correctly match each Ray to a color-be very skeptical.

EXAMPLES OF THE USE OF THE SEVEN RAYS

The mystery of The Seven Rays has been so profound that it has had a major impact on human science, religion, civilization and culture (or is it the other way around) throughout history. Below is a non-comprehensive listing of things that are subject to the number seven:

- The Seven Principles of the Constitution of Man (Atma, Buddi, Manas, Kama-Prana, Linga Sarira & Sthula-Sarira); - The Seven Root Races of man (Polarian, Hyperborean, Lemurian, Atlantean, Aryan, Seal, Trumpet);- The Seven Sacred Planets (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn);- The seven Chakras of the Human Body (Crown/Shaswara, Third-Eye/Anja-Throat/, Heart/Anahata, Solar Plexus/Manipura, Sacral/Svadhishana and Root/Muladhara);- The Seven Colors of the Chakras (From the bottom-up, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet)- The Sevenfold Nature of the Universe, (i.e. 7 dimensions) such as the six non-visible Globes of each visible Planet; - The Seven Musical Notes in an Octave (the 1st and last note being the same);- The Seven Musical Notes in a Scale (do, re, me, fa, so, la, te)- Seven Stanzas from the secret - BOOK OF DZYAN from which the book “The Secret Doctrine” by Blavatsky;- The Seven Days in a week;- The number of each of the Oceans and Continents;- The number of neck bones in nearly all animals;- The Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church ((Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Holy Orders, Marriage and Last Rites);- The Lotus Flower on Buddha’s pedestal has seven petals;- The Seven days it took God to create the World in the Bible;- The seven years it takes the human body takes to totally replace itself (except for the cells in the Cerebral Cortex);- The number Seven, which is considered a lucky number, and which is the most common number to come up in a roll of the dice;- The seven causes in all men: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion and desire. (Aristotle);- The ancient Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences: grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, geometry, logic & Astronomy;- Seven Hills of Rome;- The Seven vowels in the Greek Alphabet: alpha, epsilon, eta, iota, omicron, upsilon, omega;- The Seven Holy Virtues: humility, charity, kindness, patience, chastity, temperance, and diligence.- The seven deadly sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth;- The Seven Major stars in the constellations of Orion and Ursa Major (Big Dipper)- The Seven Candles of a Jewish Minora;- The Seven Heavens and Seven Doors of Hell in Islam;- There are seven Forces in Man and in all Nature according to Occult Aphorisms, quoted in “The Secret Doctrine”;- The Seven Beings in the Sun which in Vedic texts are known as the Seven Holy Ones. Who send the seven principal Forces, called Rays, which, at the beginning of Pralaya, will center into seven new Suns for the next Manvantara.

CORRELATION WITH THE SEVEN RAYS OF LIGHT

Astrologers associate certain properties, colors, planets, persons, emotions, etc. with certain Rays, The magnitude of the effect of the Light of the Ray will depend on the strength of the Light then available.

The skill at that practice varies from Astrologer to Astrologer depending on his/her training, education and experience. Listed below are some of the things that an Astrologer might use to arrive at a finding or prediction about a person or thing. Such things vary from Astrologer to Astrologer and there are many not listed here.

For example each number below corresponds to the color of the Ray beginning using the color sequence of – Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange, Violet, and Indigo. Each Color of a Ray represents certain qualities, powers, gods, etc. as configured over the millennia.

To certain Theosophists the Seven Rays exhibit the following general types of things in the life of men:

1. The man of will, seeking freedom through mastery of self and environment: the ruler.2. The man of love, seeking unity through sympathy: the philanthropist.3. The man of thought, seeking comprehension through the study of life: the philosopher.4. The man of imagination, seeking harmony in a three-fold way: the magician, actor and symbolical artist or poet.5. The man of thought, seeking truth in the world: the scientist.6. The man of love, seeking God as goodness in the world: the devotee. 7. The man of will, seeking the beauty that is God in the world: the artist and craftsman.

C.W. Leadbeater gave a list showing the characteristic type of magic for each ray as Follows:

Below is a list of Adepts heads of Rays (Chohans) and a brief reference to their work according to C. W. Leadbeater:

First Ray: Master Morya. "He stands with all the unshakable and serene strength of His Ray, playing a great part in that work of guiding men and forming nations."Second Ray: Master Kuthumi. "Ray of Wisdom, which gives great Teachers to the world."Third Ray: The Venetian: In this Ray "there appears very strongly the characteristic of adaptability [with] great tact, and a rare faculty for doing the right thing at the right moment. Astrology is connected with this Ray."Fourth Ray: Master Serapis. "Harmony and beauty, and people who belong to His type are always unhappy until they can introduce harmony into their environment . . . Art counts for much on this Ray."Fifth Ray: Master Hilarion. "His influence is upon most of the great scientists of the world, and people well advanced along His Ray are notable for their ability to make accurate observations, and be absolutely dependable where scientific investigation is concerned."Sixth Ray: Master Jesus. "This is the Ray of the devotional saints and mystics of every religion."Seventh Ray: Comte de St. Germain. "He works to a large extent through ceremonial magic, and employs the services of great Angels."

According to Alice A. Bailey, each person has a soul Ray that remains the same through all their incarnations, and a personality Ray that is different for each incarnation. Each Ray is also correspondent with certain Masters of Wisdom, and with particular planets, cycles, nations, etc. The Seven Rays are the basis for what Alice A. Bailey called New Age Psychology, and she divides everyone in the human race into these seven psychological types.

Mdm. BLAVATSKY names of the Seven Rays as: Sushumna, Harikesa, Viswakarman, as:iswatryarchas, Sannaddha, Sarvavasu and Swaraj — are all mystical, and each has its distinct application in a distinct state of consciousness, for occult purposes. The totality of the Seven Rays spread through the Solar system constitutes the physical Upadhi (basis) of the Ether of Science in which Upadhi,( light, heat, electricity, etc., etc.) the forces of orthodox science, correlate to produce their terrestrial effects.

Each one of the Rays must be identified with one of the seven prismatic colors. However, each Ray contains all the other colors of the other Rays within itself, which are modified by the dominating color of that particular Ray.

The internet is full of people who place their own “spin” on the meaning of the colors of the Rays. Some are correct, many are just speculative or making stuff up as they go along. Again, be cautious and it would be best to stick to the traditional and historical explanations of the meaning of the colors.

Finally, an easy, yet reliable, way of determining what Ray’s govern a person is to make a chart. On the chart place three columns. Label the three columns: BEST, WORST and NONE. Then within each column list 3 or more of your best, worst of absent traits. Then, on your own, correlate those traits to a reliable chart to find the color of the Rays dominate the life of that person.

CONCLUSION

​The subject of the Mystery of “The Seven Rays” can be quite intimidating and at first glance appears to be extremely complicated. It is not. It is actually very simple.

A light rain, a broken clear rock, a crystal, a piece of broken glass all cause the white light of the Sun to bend and as it does it creates a Spectrum of Seven Rays of different light. This phenomena must have seemed magical and mystical to the Ancients. As such they began to couple the idea of the Seven Rays with Astrology and Alchemy and the result was a magical practice of predicting the future and nature of things.

Over the Millennia, Priest, Alchemist, Astrologers, Magicians, Profits and Scam Artist of all types began creating lists of thigs that corresponded to the Seven Rays. Sometimes their readings and predictions turned out to be true, mostly not.

Unquestionably, Astrology can be a useful tool. Also, Astrology can be associated with the Seven Rays of the Spectrum to make useful predictions about the nature and future of people and things. The key is not to read too much into it and accept it for what it is. It is not a secret to unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe, but it can be a useful tool in the hands of an experienced and talented person to assist in determining the nature of things and, in a limited way, to predict the future.

There is no reason to be intimated by the theory of the Seven Rays. It is a simple concept that has been made unnecessarily complicated and I hope this short paper has been useful in helping you to understand the concept of "The Seven Rays”.

Scott Ramsey June 20th, 2018

Below is a chart of the properties of the Theosophical Seven Rays by Geoffrey Hodson​ from his book: THE SEVEN HUMAN TEMPERAMENTS